Pillow



(No Model.)

A. G. ROEN'IGK.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED G./ROENIGK, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

PILLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,114, dated August 9. 1887.

Application filed May 12, 1887. Serial No. 237,942. (No model.)

and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to pillows' and sham pillows, its object being to provide a cheap 1o pillow, principally employed as a sham pillow,

which shall maintain its shape, this being a necessity in the sham pillows or upper pillows von the bed or couch, and shall be yielding in its body and at the edges, so that when employed as a pillow to rest against any person resting against it shall not come in contact with the frame, a further object being to provide a cheap and durable sham pillow.

To these ends it consists in a pillowhaving a skeleton frame formed of cross-bars having a cord or wire extending from end to end of the cross-bars so forming the edges of the frame, so that-in the finished pillow no rigid parts of the frame are liable to come in Contact with the body of the person resting against it,-ex cept at the corners of the pillow. It also'consists in forming the spring portion of the pillow of spiral springs secured to the cross-bars,

, and cords passing from' the cross-bars over these springs, so as to form a support for the covering and stuffing of the pillow.

It also consists in locating these springs one at the center, Where the bars cross each other, and one or more on each cross-bar between its center and end, the springs with their confining-cords, when so located, acting to give a spring surface to the entirepillow.

It also consists in combining with my improved frame, .as above described, a covering of canvas over the frame' and a stufling or packing of excelsior, hair, or like material between this canvas cover and the outer cover of the pillow, thus forming a finished sham pillow, which is held in proper shape by the skeleton frame and springs, and which is made sufficiently soft and yielding by the springs and the covering and stuffing thereon.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improved pillow, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in whicha Figure l is a perspective view of the skele= ton frame before the covering is secured thereto; and Fig. 2 is a like View of the finished pillow, partly broken away, showing the maniner in which the saine is made.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

The cross-bars a of the frame are made of light wooden strips, which cross each other at the center and are fitted into each other, the bars being supported or strengthened on the inner face by the block k and on the back by a metal plate, Z, at the center, as shown; and extending around the -wooden frame so made and passing over the ends of these bars is the cord or wire b, this cord forming the edgeof the pillow-'frame between the corners, and, as the cord is yielding, overcoming the ordinary hard edge generally found in sham pillows, and forming a support to the framenvhich renders it sufficiently rigid and durable. Secured' to the crossbars a are the springs c, that are usually termed half-springs, being usually employed on sham pillows, the springs .being one-half the height of the ordinary spiral upholstering-springs, and the smaller ends of the -springs being secured to the cross-bars in any suitable manner, such as by brads or doublepointed tacks passing around one coil of the springs and driven into the bars but for sleeping pillows and holsters a full spring being employed to render it soft and yielding. The large ends of the spiral springs extend up from the frame, and in order to confine these springs and obtain the spring-action over substantially the entire surface of the pillow, I employ the cords d, these cords extending from the crossbars a, near the ends thereof, over the free portion of the springs, and extending from one end of one bar to the other endthereof, each cord passing over the spring or springs secured between the end and center of the bars and over the central spring, c', which is secured to the frame at the point where the bars cross each other. The springs are thus confined between the frame formed by the cross-bars a and the cords d, and the skeleton frame for the pillow is thus composed of the cross-bars a, the cord or wire b, extending from end to end of the bars and forming the side' edges of the pillow, the yielding springs c, and their confining-cords d.

In sham pillows I nd it only necessary to lto support the stuffing material, this fabric being either netting, canvas, or like material, i

which is first secured over the skeleton frame, being tacked to the crossbars thereof and secured to the outer cord, Z1, when the pillow is ready for stuffing and covering. It is desirable that the pillow shall have the same cover on both sides, and for this purpose the cover 2o f extends over the face and the back and en- `tirely incloses the frame, the cover being made of proper size, and after it is slipped over part of the pillow the stuffing or filling of excelsior, hair, or other suitable material being packed between thenetting o and the cover f, this stuffing g bei ng gradually filled in and packed, so as to impart the desired surface contour to the pillow and a sufficient cushion between the springs and the cover, and the ends of the cover being then brought together and sewed, so iuclosing the entire frame with its netting and stuffing and forming the fiuished pillow.

The pillow so formed can be employed either for sleeping purposes or simply as a sham pillow, according to the desire of the user and the materials of which it .is formed, the skeleto u frame with its springs forming a yielding surface which will give much more than the ordinary sham pillow and at thcsame timehold its shape, which is necessary in such pillows, and overcoming the employment of a large body of stuffing or packing, as is found necessary in the ordinary upper pillows formed entirely of such materials. The surface of the pillow as finished is yielding, there being no rigid parts except at the corners, and the edges of the pillow being sufficiently yielding for all purposes, so that the pillow is not so stif'f in appearance as the ordinary sham pillow, and when the body is resting againstit forming a much casier support than the ordinary sham pillow. A t the same time the skeleton frame is cheap in construction, the cross-hars, cords, and springs costing but little, and the springs doing away with a large portion of the stuffing material which has necessarily been employed in the ordinary large pillows having no frame, so that my improved sham pillow can be manufactured ata low cost. W'hen emyloyed as a sleeping pillow or bolster, its surface can be made as soft and comfortable as the ordinary sleeping-pillow, and it is much cooler and healthier than those formed of feathers, as it is ventilated, while its cost is less than the springpillows heretofore made.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A pillow having a frame formed ofrigid cross-bars and a cord extending from end to end of the bars'forming the side edges of the frame, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A. pillow having a frame formed of rigid crossbars, a cord extending from end to end of the bars forming the side edges of the frame, and springs supported on said eross-bars,sub stantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The pillow having the skeleton frame formed of the rigid cross-bars a,the edge cord, I), the one or more springs secured to said bars between the center and the ends thereof, the center spring, c', secured to said bars at their point of junction, and the eonfiningcords d, passing over the springs secured to the bars, substautiall y as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In pillows, the combination ofthe frame formed of the cross-bars a, the edge cord, I), the springs c, the netting a, fitting over the frame, the coverf, and stuffing material confined between the netting and cover, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said ALFRED G. ROENIGK, have hereunto set my hand.

ALFRED G. ROENIGK. llfitnesses:

J. NnGLEY Cooiin, N. S. S'rookwnnn. 

